The Spring edition of the Hockey's Future ranking of the Top 50 NHL prospects concludes with the prospects ranked 1-10. The top prospect is Florida Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov, who narrowly beat out Jonathan Drouin for top honors in the ranking.

Photo: Providence College goaltender and Calgary Flames prospect Jon Gillies has played for Team USA at the last two U20 World Junior Championships (courtesy of Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images)

This season started with 15 NHL-drafted goaltenders playing in the NCAA. Now it is down to 13. Reigning ECAC Rookie of the Year Jason Kasdorf (WPG) suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in October after playing in just two games. Sophomore Collin Olson (CAR) left Ohio State in November to play in the USHL.

Photo: Notre Dame defenseman and Chicago Blackhawks prospect Stephen Johns will cap off his college career with his most productive offensive season for the Fighting Irish (courtesy of Zumapress/Icon SMI)

This season, the NCAA features an array of outstanding NHL-drafted defensemen and many of them, particularly underclassmen, have been left off this year’s list. The ten defensemen ranked here are all having excellent seasons with their respective teams and have made tremendous strides in their development.

Photo: Selected 14th overall in the 2009 NHL Draft, Dmitri Kulikov has developed into a steady, two-way defenseman for the Florida Panthers. (courtesy of Rich Graessle/Icon SMI)

The Florida Panthers entered the 2009 NHL Draft with a new general manager in Randy Sexton, a cornerstone defenseman about to leave the team via free agency in Jay Bouwmeester, and a desperate need for an infusion of offensive skill.